Absorbent bandage.



PATENTED JAN. 16, 1906.

w. R. GREEN.

ABSORBENT BANDAGE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 10, 1904.

wmwsw UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLARD R. GREEN, OF MUSCATINE, IOWA, ASSIGN OR TO THE AMERICANABSORBENT FIBER COMPANY, OF PORTLAND, MAINE, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 16, 1906.

Application filed June 10, 1904:. Serial No. 211,933.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLARD R. GREEN, a

' citizen of the United States, residing in Muscatine, in the county ofMuscatine and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Absorbent'Band ages, of which the following is aspecification.

My present invention relates to that class of articles commonly known asabsorbent bandages, and has for its object to provide an article of thisclass of improved construction whereby advantages of efficiency and modeof operation may be obtained in an article of low cost to manufacture.

In the drawings accompanying and forming a part of this specification,Figure l is a perspective view representing a bandage made in accordancewith my present improvements. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view in line 22, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of a portion of thebandage, this view being taken in line 3 3, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is aperspective view of a preferred form of one of the members of thearticle. Fig. 5 is a similar view in perspective of a portion of achambered member.

Similar characters of reference designate corresponding parts in all thefigures.

In absorbent bandages designed for taking up relatively thick fluids orsemifluids there is often a tendency for the thicker portions to form aclose layer on the surface portion of the absorbent body or mass and socheck the flowage and proper distribution of the fluids in the mass. Toprovide for this, I furnish the bandage with an upper member, as 5,

' having an open-work or chambered construction adapted for permitting arelatively free descent through said upper member of the fluid orsemifluid substance into an absorptive granular layer or pad ofmaterial, as 6, which material may be of any suitable character, as sandor the like. The granular layer 6 is constantly changing its positiondue to the flexing of the bandage while in use, thereby aiding thefluids to freely pass through the pad into the absorbent mass below.

In the drawings the absorbent mass 7 is shown as a body carried in somesuitable covcr-sheet, which is indicated in a general Way by 8. Thiscovering or holder may consist of a suitable fabric, preferablywaterproofed, of light weight, which may, if desired, be specially wovenfor the purpose. The ends of the sheet are shown folded to formattaching portions 8 and 8 for the bandage. In practice this fold may bemade as indicated, for instance, in Fig. 1, the edges 9 and 11 beingfolded one over the other and held in place by stitching or by ametallic or other suitable connecting means, as indicated, for instance,at 13.

As a suitable material of which to make up the relatively granularabsorptive body or layer 6 I prefer to use granules of sand, preferablyof a medium grade, which may be contained in a suitable cover-sheet ofopen-mesh fabric, as 6, folded about the sand or other granules in sucha manner as to form a looselycontained mass through which the thinnerfluids will freely pass. The thicker portions or semifluids as theylodge on the granular member tend to be separated or segregated by theworking or shifting of the same, there by causing the fluids in whatevercondition received to separate and the thinner portions to freely passtherethrough into the absorbent mass or body 7 below. This cover-sheet 6is best shown in Fig. 4 as being lapped over lengthwise of the layer,forming two overlapping edges 15 and 16, with the ends 17 foldedinwardly and suitably held together by stitching, as 18.

The upper member 5 is shown in the form (which I deem preferable) of asheet material folded or shaped on numerous transverse lines intoundulations or corrugations, as 25 and 26, of which 26 are the inner and25 the outer transverse ribs or members of the series comprised in themember 5. These transverse elements form cell-spaces 25 and 26. Two ofthe transverse members are joined together at the center in any suitableway, but in the drawings are shown secured to a strip of cloth 27 bymetallic fasteners 28. The cloth tape in some cases, however, may beomitted.

The receiving member 5, with its cellular spaces 25 26 arranged side byside in a flat layer, is preferably made somewhat tapering at the endsthereof, as roughly indicated at 28, to adapt it to thegradually-reduced dimensions of the bandage as it tapers into theattaching ends 8 and 8. This member also acts as a side brace to preventthe collapse of the bandage. This feature will hereinafter be more fullydescribed.

In practice other well-known forms of folding and of cell constructionmay be employed in the member 5 in lieu of the simple form ofcorrugation shown in this case. Said chambers or cells 25 and 26 beinglocated at the receiving-surface of the bandage constitutetransmission-conduits downwardly to the mass 7 below; also by reason oftheir arrangement, and especially by their being connected together,serve as means of ventilation for the interior of the bandage while inuse. The member 5 constitutes, in effect, a combined receiving andresistance member.

The member 5 is laid on the granular member or pad 6, with the cellscommunicating with the granular substance contained therein, whichmaterial is of such a nature as to disintegrate the semifluids and aidin the proper distribution of the same into the absorbent mass below.This construction serves to render the member 5 relativelynon-compressible and inelastic in a direction laterally ofthe bandage,while freely permitting the same to bend flatwise of itself. The member5 is preferably nonfibrousthat is, non-absorptive-although some kinds ofpaper, especially if in sheet form and suitably treate ed or prepared,may be employed for making said side bracing member, as more fully setforth in my aforesaid application, Serial No. 211,930, filed June 10,1904.

In Fig. 2 the fiber mass 7 is shown brought up over the edges at 5 ofthe member 5, thus serving to hold in place as well as to interlock withthe ends of the chamber-spaces 5",while serving also to cushion thebandage along the edges thereof, and, furthermore, forming a directabsorption means for immediately taking up the more fluid orserum-likeportions of the material to be absorbed, while the thicker portions passgradually down through the chamber-space of said receiving member intothe pad or member 6 of the bandage. I

For closing in, or partially doing so, the chambers or cells of themember 5 I prefer to provide this member with a surface sheet, as 29,preferably of fabric, and this of relatively open mesh. In some casesthis surface sheet may be attached directly to the upper face of themember 5 by using a waterproof cement or by stitching or otherwise, butis shown herein as having the edges of the sheet 29 extended downbetween the mass 7 and its containing cover-sheet 8, as indicated at 30,Fig. 2, as to be preferably held in place thereby. When arranged in thislatter manner, the meshes of the surface sheet operate, in combinationwith the surface or upper portion of the member 5 by a sliding movementthereon, in a manner analogous to that which occurs between the upperand lower surface sheets should two of these be employed. There is also,as will be evident, a corresponding interaction between the member 5 andthe lower member 6 and also between the lower edges of the member 6 andthe fiber mass 7. When the fiber or strands of the portion 7 are made ofa woody material and are mingled together and suitably compacted to theproper density to form the desired capillary retention-spaces, withrelatively large conducting-spaces ramifying throughout the absorbentmass, the upper edges of such strands then operate (especially in thebending of the bandage) to clear away by a scraping or abrasive actionmatter that would otherwise adhere to the under side of said Emember 6.woody strands with the chambers or cells of said intermediate granularmember is in some E cases of importance, since it tends also to increasethe receptivity of the absorbent mass below, especially when it isrequired that this mass shall rapidly take up a relatively large Thisparticular coaction of the amount of semifluid material.

The receiving member 5, besides providing for the series of cells andchambers, also constitutes a side brace which in the present instance islocated at or near the top of the bandage and while flexibleconstitutes, in combination with the other members of the bandage, aresistance device or brace for preventing the undue collapse of thebandage laterally by reason of side pressure thereon and in this mannerserves also to prevent accidental discharge or expulsion of any fluidscontained within the bandage. The cellspaces or chamber-space serve asreceptacles for quickly taking up a considerable quantity of fluid andfor retaining the same while being gradually absorbed into the granularlayer and the absorptive material or mass 7, and thus finally disposedof In this action or process the cellular or chambered members 5, aswell as the granular member 6, operate together, the lower member 6being in some respects in the nature of a distributing or disintegratinglayer to further the downward progress of the fluid into the absorbentmass 7. The cellular spaces of the member 5 also at a later time serveas permanent receptacles for such thicker portions of the fluid as mayhave become segregated from the serum-like portions during the processof absorption. In this way the member 6 assists in receiving andbreaking up such thicker components of the fluids, especially whilecoagulation is proceeding. v

The intermediate member 6 being located just below the side bracingreceiving member 5, when the chambers or spaces in said member 5 areelongated, as shown in the present instance, are located along theentire the member 6 may be of any desired specific character as agranular-layer receiving and transmitting member, I prefer to soconstruct the same that it will be flexible in all directions, therebysecuring its perfect cooperation with the fibrous mass 7.

One of the objects and advantages sought to be obtained bymeans of thepresent improvement is to provide for the manufacture of the bandages ata low cost and for the use in such manufacture of materials of a lowcost and employed in a minimum quantity. For this purpose and also toprovide for a high degree of receptivity and distributive capacity, butespecially to reduce the amount of absorptive material Which Wouldother- Wise be required in a bandage of a given and proper bulk or size,I employ such a construction of the component members of the bandage asWill secure a considerable proportionate amount of open space in thenature of chamber-space or cell-space, these spaces serving in part asreceptacles for the quick reception of a considerable amount of fluid orsemifluid material and also serving as distributive means fortransmitting the same more gradually to the absorptive portions of thebandage. Also such space or spaces Will in general serve to finallyreceive and retain considerable quantities of material Which wouldotherwise have to be taken up by the absorptive or fibrous'portions ofthe bandage.

It is not intended to claim herein, broadly, a side bracing member, asthis constitutes in part the subject-matter of my copending aplication,Serial No. 211,926, filed June 10, 1904, nor a cellular side bracingmember, as this constitutes in part the subject-matter of my copendingapplication, Serial No. 211,931, filed June 10, 1904, nor the use of agranular material in combination with a cellular construction or With adiiierent absorbent material, nor a body of sand and means formaintaining the opening of the cover-sheet, as this constitutes in partthe subject-matter of my copending application, Serial No. 211,930,filed June 10, 1904, nor the use of a granular material and a fibrousmaterial, broadly, as this constitutes in part the subject-matter of mycopending application, Serial No. 195,729, filed February 29, 1904.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. A bandage comprising abody of absorptive material, a body of sand or analogous granularmaterial thereon, and a body com prising a number of cells upon suchsand body, for passing fluid material to the sand and for preventingsidewise compression of the bandage.

2; A bandage comprising a body of absorbent material, a body of sand oranalogous granular material thereon, and means thereon for preventingsidewise compression thereof.

3. A bandage comprising a cover-sheet, a body of fibrous absorbentmaterial therein, a sack or layer of granular material thereon, a sidebracing member on said sack or layer of granular material and havingcells, spaces or chambers for the passage of fluid therethrough, and asurface sheet over said side bracing member.

Signed at Nos. 9 to 15 Murray street, New York, N. Y., this 7th day ofJune, 1904.

WILLARD R. GREEY.

Witnesses:

FRED. J. DOLE, JOHN O. SEIFERT.

